Without Granting Innocence An Annie Cresta Story
by hellyeahcameronmitchell
Summary: "The girl tribute for District Four will be... Annie Cresta!"   "And the boy tribute will be... Jakob Cresta."


_Without Granting Innocence _

"The girl tribute for District Four will be…" Lynith Menefer dug around in the glass bowl until her pale rose-colored fingers grasped a delicate slip of paper. "Annie Cresta!" she announced, her face alight with a bright smile.

As Annie silently took her place, she looked out to the crowd. Not one person stepped up to take her place, though one looked like he was about to. That boy, Finnick Odair. She'd always fancied him. It was just too bad that she'd never see him again, for she had no doubt she would not survive the arena. The reaping could not get much worse.

"And the boy tribute will be…" Lynith plucked out another scrap of paper, planting another 100-watt smile on her face over the strained look. "Jakob Cresta," she said, with not nearly as much enthusiasm.

The crowd went stiller than it had been in its silent, fearful unease. Annie lost sight of Finnick's face. She lost sight of everything, everything except her twelve-year-old brother stiffly mounting the stage.

She dropped away from reality, hating the darkness and loathing the light. There was no place left for her.

"Time to face them," Fray whispered in her ear. "Are you ready?"

"Is there another option?" the girl whispered, terrified.

Her stylist shook his head sadly. "I wish there were, sweetheart," he said. "But if it helps, you look magnificent." He smiled briefly. "Now go get 'em, tiger. I'll be rooting for you."

Annie's stylist pushed her gently out onto the stage, where she stood, frozen with shock, for a long moment.

Fray had been right; she knew she was something to behold. She had seen herself in the mirror—her dark hair flowed around her shoulders, contrasting with her classically styled white dress and stunning sea green eyes. The angle Fray had been going for was beautiful, elegant. A queen among peasants.

"And now, a District Four favorite, please welcome Annie Cresta!"

Bright lights blinded her, and she could faintly smell blood and roses. But Annie forced her wooden feet to move her further onto the stage. She twirled once before the cameras, accepting Caesar Flickerman's hand to lower herself into the chair.

"So, Annie, we've already had your brother with us tonight."

Annie had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"How do you feel?" Caesar continued obliviously. Whatever pleased the crowd. "Tell us what you're thinking."

She took a deep breath to steady herself, staring directly at the cameras. "I feel as if I've already been killed in that arena. Do you know what, Caesar? I don't intend to come back out of that arena. I'll do whatever it takes to keep my brother alive. This should not have happened so soon for him."

"But you're barely sixteen yourself, Annie," Caesar chastised her half-heartedly. "You can't give up completely."

A bubble of laughter, cold and humorless, left her throat. "I will do whatever it takes," she repeated, her voice hard and unforgiving.

Annie Cresta stood and walked off the stage.

A mountain to the left. A dam holding back what seemed like an ocean next to that. A forest in the midst them. Annie knew what she was doing.

Jakob stood, scared and rigid, on the platform to her right. To her left, the boy tribute from District 8; the girl had dropped her token and been blown to bits. Twenty-three tributes left. Annie was scared—not for herself, but for Jakob.

"Let the 70th Hunger Games begin!"

She scooped up Jakob in her arms—he was light from being underfed—and sprinted toward the forest. She didn't even think of trying to scavenge something from the Cornucopia—she would only be killed in the bloodbath, and what would she do then for Jakob?

"Annie, what about you?" Jakob asked worriedly. "What will happen to you if you're taking care of me all the time?"

"Don't you worry about me," Annie reassured them both. "I'll be just fine. I don't plan on leaving you alone." She didn't finish the sentence as she could have—yes, she would leave him. Because she would make him leave her behind.

"You need to take care of yourself, too," he reminded her. "I can do a lot, Annie. I'm not a baby."

Tears welled up in Annie's eyes. "No," she said. "You're not." It pained her to see how fast he was growing up, and how forced it was. He deserved to stay young and vibrant forever. She had hoped the pain of everything could be lost on him. She had really tried. Now she would only try harder, to make up for what had been lost.

Annie tried to keep themselves distant from everyone else. But she knew they would not be alone forever.

As she hunted one night, she ran right into a girl who was without a weapon. "Hello," the girl said timidly, shaking. "I'm Tay. I'm from District are you?"

Annie lowered her weapon. "Annie, District 4," she said.

"Are you going to kill me?" Tay asked.

The girl looked younger than Annie, around thirteen. And she reminded Annie of Jakob so much, her heart throbbed painfully. "No," Annie said. "I'm going to leave now. Goodbye." Annie disappeared into the brush.

The next morning, Jakob woke her, and at his idea, they headed toward the mountain. It seemed miles high, but Annie forced herself to climb it, with Jakob and her lone knife on her back.

At the top, she sighed. "Why was it so important to come here, Jakob?" she asked.

He had seemed very distant since they first entered the arena, having his blank moments at times where he seemed to leave reality completely. "What do you mean?" he asked, looking confused.

Annie frowned and made camp, listening to Jakob breathing softly as he stood over the edge.

In the middle of the night, Jakob woke her again. "Annie," he whispered urgently.

Annie opened her eyes to see him fully dressed. "What is it, Jakob?"

"I have to leave. Right now."

"Alright, let's go," she said, starting to gather the knife.

He caught her hand. "No. I mean just me. I have to go back to the forest. Alone."

She stared at him. "No. I will _not_ leave you alone."

He held her eyes, and she saw that though hers were overflowing with tears, his were calm and dry. "Please, Annie. I'm going to leave anyway. I just thought it better if you knew. I promise, I won't die without your permission." A hint of his old smile returned to his face. "I'll see you later, Annie."

Annie stood and helped him down the side of the mountain helplessly. She watched from the base as he disappeared into the edge of the woods, and kept watching even when she couldn't see him anymore. When she returned to her camp, alone, she began to sob harder.

He hadn't even said he loved her.

The Careers attacked the next morning.

Annie awoke to their arguing, arguing over who got to kill her. She stood shakily.

"She's awake!" the girl from 1 yelled. "Get her!"

They leaped toward her. She stumbled uncertainly to the edge, falling gracelessly toward the water below. She smiled slightly as their forms gathered at the edge, watching her fall.

And then she hit the freezing water. The cold shocked her fully awake, her tears mixed with the salt water. She swam at the surface for what seemed like hours, numbly awake.

The dam exploded, and she flowed out with the water. Her hair was dry; she never went underwater, not once. She could only just hold on to wakefulness as she slipped away from the mountain.

"Annie!"

A little girl's voice woke her again. Tay paddled over to Annie, smiling grimly. "How's this for cruel, eh?"

Another child, forced to grow up. It broke another piece of Annie's heart she hadn't known was still whole. "Tell me about it," Annie said distantly.

They swam side-by-side for some time, until they heard the muffled roaring sounds. "What's that?" Tay asked fearfully.

"I'm not sure," Annie said. She lifted her arm out of the water, wondering at the pink tint of the waves surrounding it. She was cut.

The muttation comes at them from beneath the water. It resembles a shark, but its teeth are considerably sharper and longer. Its opaque black eyes were trained on Annie and Tay.

The next few minutes were a blur to Annie. She could hear the screams, the growls. She could see the blood as it flowed thicker into the water. But she couldn't feel any pain. Was it from the numbness, still controlling her body?

She finally realized, as the shark left with Tay's body, that she was on land. Jakob stood over her silently. "Into the woods," he said. Annie followed without question, for her head hurt too much.

Down to three. Annie worked to keep herself and Jakob alive, just as she had before. But it was different; she suspected that Jakob did a lot of hunting behind her back.

More than just animals, too, another fact that tore Annie in two. She was filled with horror at his kills, awe at his kills, guilt for feeling anything at all, and pain for not being there to protect him. Could the tributes really have killed each other off that quickly? Though time meant nothing to Annie at that time.

But now that there were so few of them left, Annie knew what she had to do. She grabbed up the knife she still had and led Jakob into a clearing, deep in the forest.

She thrust the knife into his small hands. He stared at it blankly. "What do I do with this?" he asked flatly, though she had a feeling he already knew.

"Kill me," she said, closing her eyes and tilting her head back.

"Why?" He stared at her skeptically, his face betraying no emotion.

"We can't both live," she said huskily, choking on her words. "I want you to kill me."

"What if I can't?"

She stared at him steadily. "I know you can," she said, her voice hard. She had no doubt about that by now—the Games had killed him inside. "I love you, Jakob."

She kept her eyes open as he stepped toward her. She saw the last tribute jump out from the bushes with an axe. She closed her eyes to the scream, but the memory of Jakob's head rolling, isolated, to the ground would haunt her forever.

There was a sharp zap, and another thud. Two cannons sounded.

"And the winner of the 70th Hunger Games is Annie Cresta!"

But she didn't want to win. She shouldn't have won. The world dissolved into chaos before her disbelieving eyes.

Annie Cresta let go.


End file.
